[Intro]
Yeah
1994, with the fat remix
C'mon!
[Hook]
(ROUGH!) Everytime they held me back I got (TOUGH!)
Never could they hold me back I'm too (ROUGH!)
Everytime they locked me down I got (TOUGH!)
Never could they break me down I'm too (ROUGH!)
[Verse One]
It's all around us everywhere we look we see it everday
My brotherman's smile is upside down goin the wrong way
I dig deeper, try to search for the cause
Is the answer in the nine milli' stuck in my drawers?
Or - is it coincidence the projects is full of blacks?
And when you're black and trying to get ahead they pull you back?
We went from African kings to Martin Luther King
Now they wanna make us all Rodney King
So they conspire, to murder for hire
Is the world just a big cup of water trying to douse the black fire?
Is it because I'm the man that you brought to this land
And rose above bein' labelled as a fieldhand?
I made Hustle & Trade in the ninth grade
Figured out a way to get paid before I got laid
But either way I got my hands in a cuff
I got my grill guarded and I knuckle up cause it's real tough!
[Hook]
[Verse Two]
How can I find, who's the real divine
When everytime I take a book, take a look my strong mind sees a new sign?
My black woman degrades me
So I grab my clothes, get the gun, kiss the kid and I get Swayze
Should I think about the baby at home and go back
Or should I just say "fu*k IT" and leave it alone?
I'm on the road like Billy Jack never lookin back
With the fat MAC-11 in the backpack
Will another man take my place
And have my child screaming daddy, lookin all in his face?
Or do I turn around and make it up?
Or do I let my pride take control, and make it real tough?
[Hook] - repeat 2X
[Verse Three]
Who do I follow, and who do I lead?
Do they really wanna help me or is it just greed?
Is everybody all for self to get wealth?
The streets wanna dust me off and throw me on the shelf
Is he my man, or is he tryin to play me?
Or is he some hitman somebody sent to lay me?
Can I turn a young black boy into a man?
Can I kick the rhyme and spread knowledge to a fan?
Or do I gotta play the role just to be liked
Like a whole lot of s**ers I know that get the mic?
Do I let a label change me to something I'm not
And make records that cold flop whenever they drop?
Who do I blame if I'm not a success?
Do I blame it on my pops that left, when I was feedin on my momma's breast?
Or do I blame it on society?
With all this black white stuff, man this sh** is real tough
[Hook] - repeat 2X
[Outro]
1994
If you believe in yo'self
When the goin gets rough, you gotta get TOUGH~!
From Daddy Boot Knock baby
[Hook]